A better question for me is what WOULDN’T I be? I have so many passions and interests that sometimes I even wonder myself what I would do if I didn’t teach. One thing is for sure: whatever I would be, I would certainly make more money than I do now!
It’s important to say up front that even adults don’t always know what they want to be when they grow up. Adults change jobs all the time because we change as people. Some keep the same profession for 40 years, while others change jobs every four. Everyone chooses their own path in life. Don’t think of your profession as something engraved in stone that can never be changed or broken. I am 28 and have been teaching for more than 8 years, and while I like to think that I would do this forever, sometimes I wonder if I actually will.
When I was a little boy, I wanted to be a electrician because I want to be like my brother-in-law. Unfortunately I didn’t get chance to study physics because that time school is not having science stream. When I was in secondary grade, I realized that I would really love teaching. I also realized that I would really love to do some electronics works and computer repairing work for the rest of my life. I chose the smart route and majored in teaching, but I’ve always kept my love for computer works.
I would love to have my own computer shop and a school of computer where anyone can learn about computers with a little fee. I am a very social person, but I also like time by myself.
See all of these options and possibilities? I think about everything I would do if I didn’t teach and sometimes wonder why I don’t just quit my job and do them. But then I stop and think about my students and my coworkers, and as cheesy and stupid as this may sound, I really can’t leave them. My coworkers in LHAEC are like family to me, and my students feel like my own kids (not all of them, mind you). Even those teachers and friends I met in different pasts of Maldives because of this profession, I can’t forget them, especially friends from Meedhoo trip. One day I will probably leave Hinnavaru and start anew at another school somewhere else in the country. But for now, for better or for worse, this is the profession I chose, and even though it is so extremely difficult, I can’t imagine leaving it.
